


foreseen

by skiesaflame



Series: here, there, and nowhere [2]
Category: Fate/Grand Order
Genre: Introspection, M/M, not particularly romantic but it’s meant to be implied
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-25
Updated: 2019-09-25
Packaged: 2020-10-28 03:30:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20771813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skiesaflame/pseuds/skiesaflame
Summary: Merlin watches and waits for the inevitable to unfold.





	foreseen

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lockit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lockit/gifts).

> Thank you for requesting!

Of all the places one would expect Merlin to meet Solomon, the grand caster, face to face, it is not in a stuffy medical bay watching him attempt clumsy small talk with the king he moulded into existence while he stitches up her wounded shoulder with admittedly impressive precision. Granted, this is not Solomon, the grand caster, but instead, Romani, the man born of a fragment of Solomon. 

Merlin watches closely, searching for a fault in the neat row of stitches Romani sews into Arturia’s skin. He’s worried, and it sets him off-balance. Feelings in the realm of human experience are not foreign to him, he has seen many a man unravel because of them, but experiencing something akin to them for himself is never particularly pleasant. Men are fickle and fleeting, stars burning out from the moment they are born, and Merlin’s existence is a constant, the all-seeing moon to the stars of the night sky. He is removed from them in a way that contradicts his meddling in their fate, but Arturia has always been something of an exception. It’s hard to think of someone purely as an investment when he’d spent the years of her childhood mending the scrapes on her knees from a distance. 

Romani is instructing Arturia to return once her skin’s regenerated in a few hours so that he can remove the stitches by the time Merlin refocuses on them. She thanks him with a kind smile that Merlin’s been seeing a lot more of since she arrived in Chaldea than he had in life. She leaves, and Merlin steps out of her line of sight, watching as she disappears into the sterile halls wherein so many other spirits roam. Merlin turns to watch Romani again. He’s meticulously packs away the medical supplies scattered across the room, taking time to note what they’ve gone through today. It’s a process of habit, and Merlin has seen Romani repeat it with shaking hands that steady as he walks himself through it. 

Solomon’s nature is not unlike his own, knowledge turning his worldview impartial and carrying it to the brink of apathy. Though as inhuman as Merlin himself and not resulting from a will of his own, Solomon was a great king. Romani is a pathetic little man plagued by fear, running from the weight of negative emotions and constantly adapting to the personalities of others. Romani is painfully human. 

“I don’t know if I’m more offended that you didn’t bother to greet me when I was summoned, or that you didn’t even call me to heal Arturia myself instead of using your mundane methods,” Merlin says. The silence has stretched out far too long to be of his liking. A man left to be silent is most often a boring one. 

Romani startles and drops a roll of gauze. “Merlin!” Romani’s cut short when the gauze rolls under the counter he was resting on, and he dives after it. He hits his head in the scuffle. Merlin watches in amusement. Romani scowls at him from the floor. “Forgive me for not deeming myself worthy enough to trouble a caster as grand as you.” The effect of his sarcasm is lost when he punctuates the statement with a yelp of pain after prodding at the back of his head. 

A laugh almost escapes Merlin. If nothing else, Romani is entertaining to tease. Perhaps it is a pity that he’s so certainly doomed. “Right, of course. I wouldn’t want to bother a man so obviously busy. I’m sure you have much to pack away and even more funds to donate to a special idol.”

Merlin doesn’t turn back when Romani calls. He was as good as dead from the moment he was created. It’s best not to linger close to a man who would be dead so soon when Merlin won’t grieve for him. Let those who would be mourning take up his time. The most investment Merlin can offer Romani is watching him until his inevitable end, and a silent promise to not avert his eyes.


End file.
